RPlog:Aggressive Negotiations with Luke Skywalker
Trader's Envy - YT-1300 Corellian Freighter. It hangs in space much like a brick doesnt. The engines are dimmed, idling as the disk like craft floats quietly through space on the outskirts of the Coruscant system - its systems running smoothily. The side mounted cockpit rests empty against the hull of The Envy, its occupants gathered for an event within the spacious cabin - the ship on auto pilot. Much has transpired over the last week. Jedi Padawan Ai'kani's heroic attempts to thwart galactic crime figure Tyy'sun Eson in his attempts to gain a foothold on Coruscant's underworld have culminated into an all out situation. People have died. Children have been displaced. And the rage of the crimson skinned Twi'lek has only doubled since his near fatal gunshot to the head and subsequent coma. Now Alistair, friend to Ai'kani and present during that firefight in the tunnels of Corusca's undercity as been captured as well. It is here in the bowls of the Trader's Envy that Alistair and Ai'kani find themselves bound securely, stun devices ringing their necks. They are secured to the bulkhead of the cabin. In the center of the cabin durasteel a dias resides, containing the optic lense nessesary for holographic communications. Tyy'sun Eson makes a few adjustments on the device. Kyyiriiwur the Wookiee is also in the cabin - the prisoners are the muscle bound being's responsibility while the crime lord conducts the nessesary business with the Basilica. Without Vaelyn around, Ai'kani has noticed just how much her meals had been keeping her strong. The stun collar is nothing more than a paranoid precaution as the padawan seems unable to move. Or perhaps the few exercises she's been able to do are the only reason her muscles haven't deteriorated more. But for now, she watches the crimson twi'lek. Or perhaps looking through him. She hasn't noticed Alistair or the Wookiee. It's as if she's searching on some unknown currents... finding nothing. It was a bad dream. A terribly chilling dream that Alistair found that he could not wake up from. Throbbing pain sends shivers down the twi'leks body as the spot where he was hit on the head howled in agony. Blinking rapidly, the blue man fought to regain his consciousness. Blurred vision was the only thing his struggle seemed to get him. Reality flooded back to him as he made out the large shadow of the wookie. Memories of the cantina and the ambush that the crimson menace laid for him came roaring back. Letting out a dry rasp, Alistair struggled gently against his bonds - testing them rather than making an attempt to escape. The effects of the stun bolt still rang powerfully through his body. The Wookiee was pacing back and forth before his charges. In one hand he held a block of wood which he was carving, the wood shavings tracing his footsteps. Everyonce in a while he glances over at the prisoners, glowering at them with his remaining eye like he wished them dead, or elsewhere... A flickering of blue light emerges from the projective lens of the holotransmitter on board the _Trader's Envy_. There is little to see, and even less to hear, but gradually, as if a blind is being drawn, a distinctive figure takes shape amid the static. And it grows from a centimeters-high representation of a cloaked and hooded man to one almost a meter higher than the tallest being on board the con artist Tyy'sun's ship. The cowled head lifts, but only fractionally, so that some of Luke Skywalker's features can be discerned and his eyes are kept in shadow. If they are expecting him to speak first, they could be disappointed. With an almost meditative patience, the Jedi Master waits to be, figuratively, approached. Tyy'sun nods to Kyyiriiwur that it is time, and presses a button on the dias before him. A transmission is beamed from the dish atop the Envy's hull - and springs through the depths of space to Trandosha - where a small rerouting dish collects it off the face of some muddy mountain - and redirects it to Bonadan - then to Tatooine - then to Corellia and finally to Coruscant - a simple method of cloaking the true source of a descrete transmission - though not impossible to trace. It is a request of holo communications - from Tyy'sun Eson to Luke Skywalker. No doubt the simple querry will illicit some sort of response - The Twi'lek has gained somewhat of a bad reputation among the enlightened and powerful associates of Ai'kani. Tyy'sun stands back from the dias and waits - the image available to the Basilica should anyone except the transmission will include the Twi'lek and a small portion of the rear bulkhead of his ship - there is no view of the prisoners or their Wookiee caretaker. Tyy'sun clears his throat and prepares himself quietly, dressed in the grey and distinct bunsiness robes of the Corporate Sector. Tattooed lekku furl around his shoulders. "Jedi Master Skywalker I presume.." he greets plainly as Luke's image appears Nothing... nothing... It is like searching for night within a black hallway. She can feel nothing. Hear nothing. See no one. But as the communicators on the ship start to power up; as transmissions are bounced all over the cosmos, Ai'kani shifts her wrists under her bindings. When the dim blue light enters the room, her eyes sharpen; returning to reality. Looking forward, past Tyy'sun, Ai'kani spots the image. "Master..." she says so softly that perhaps only Alistair -- who has yet to be noticed by the weakened Padawan -- could hear her. Every muscle in Alistair's body seemed to sag as he continued to recover from the terrible blast. Taking a deep breath the twi'lek took in his surroundings. Ai'kani's whisper stole his attention as he turned his head, one of his lekku falling weakly off of his shoulder. Wetting the inside of his mouth the best he could, he whispered so that Ai'kani could hear him. "Ai'kani," his whisper was very raspy. Beyond that, he had no idea what to say. It was news to him that she had been captured too, and Alistair could only assume that she had been there for quite some time. Probably near the entire time that he dwaddled down in the subterranean bazaar because of his cowardice. He would kick himself for it later, that is if he could rationalize it. Alistair doubted that he could. At the nod from the Twi'lek, Kyyiriiwur stops his pacing and turns to face the prisoners. The blade which he was using to carve the wood disappears within his vest, along with the wood. His arms fall to his side, meaty fists clenching and unclenching. "Correct," Luke replies in a voice amplified by the holoprojector's speaker system, the first word bringing a nod from the tall figure. He shifts one simple step, the heavy cloak rustling at the toes of his boots as he does so, and he folds his hands patiently in front of him. "I've been expecting your communication for some time. We have much to discuss." As the Twi'lek's captives begin to stir behind him, well out of the holograph's visual and audio range, Luke's head nevertheless turns a fraction, as if listening for something barely discernible. Tyy'sun smirks gently from his position before dias and nods his accord, lekku rippling with thought along his robed shoulders. He is inwardly satisfied that his reputation has preceeded him, where the Jedi are concerned. But he knows he plays a dangerous game. "If you are referring to the legal action against the Jedi Order for an unwarrented assault against citizens of the Corporate Sector on Coruscant doing business, I can assure you I have already decided to forgoe any lawsuits. I have decided that your expert handling of my health condition following the incident is as good an apology as a lower business man can expect." he puases, gazing at the image with intense blue/grey orbs - orbs that hold far more determination than a lowly anyone. "Or perhaps there is some other reason why you have been awaiting my transmision, Master Skywalker?" Likewise, Tyy'sun scans the available background of Luke's image, for signs of his location or anyone else present for the meeting. Her head lifts slightly as the image of Luke becomes more apparent. What is this game Tyy'sun is playing? Is he mad to seriously challenge the Basilica like he had said? To the whisper, Ai'kani's chin falls to her chest though her eyes shift to the side. There next to her, she is surprised to see a familiar face. "Alistair..." she manages to say; doing her best to shift in her place. Perhaps testing what strength she has managed to conserve. Her eyes look back to Luke's image with a heaviness. Has it really come this far? How long has she been gone? The effects from the stun bolt are completely gone now as Alistair's strength returns completely. He squirms for a moment, making sure that everything still works. Glancing up, and then down - he made perfectly sure that all of his limbs were still attached; a lingering thought that brought a few questions to his mind as he eyed the wookie carefully. The blue man liked his limbs right where they were. His eyes focused on the blue glow a distance ahead of them, and Alistair could not really make out who it was. For a moment he is silent and turns back to Ai'kani. "Are you ok?" he says, Kyyiriwiur's eyelid droops, just a bit, as he watches the prisoners lips. A frown twists his face as he takes a step forward, leaning down and placing a meaty hand on Alistair's shoulder in warning. "Remain silent," He rumbles. His hand remains on the other beings shoulder, waiting to see if any other action is needed. (speaking in Shyriiwook) Nothing but a circle of light and shadow can be seen surrounding the magnified, static-strewn image of Luke Skywalker's figure. His head dips as Tyy'sun speaks, reacting little except to take a couple of steps back and forth, cloaked intent beneath each maneuver. "Perhaps we were mistaken to show you such mercy," the Jedi says ponderously. "It is a matter which has weighed upon me. I may be convinced you deserved it if you are willing to return my apprentice to me, alive and unharmed." The crimson skinned Twi'lek just stands, seemingly at ease before the image of the Jedi Master - but his rippling lekku betray his outward show of calm - like clockwork they writh and move subtly, hinting at the myriad of thoughts, worry and calculation within the crime lord. "Is not mercy a tenent of the Jedi?" he questions, "I recall the lecturing of your apprentice to me, about the sanctity of all living beings.. a lecture recieved some time before she showed her true colors and struck me down in hatred. And for what? A perfectly legal action on my part - how embarrassing." he takes a slight step towards the seeing-eye of the holomachine, "but you can rest at peace this night, Master Skywalker. For I am indeed willing to deliver your prescious Ai'kani safely and unharmed." his smirk deepens, and his eyes flash, "I come not only as a harbinger of safe returns - but a customer as well. You are in possession of items I am quite willing to make a simple exchange for." Ai'kani doesn't seem to see or hear the Wookiee. Her eyes are on the holo and her ears on the conversation. Can it be that Tyy'sun is trying...? Her eyes closely close as Ai'kani's chin rests on her chest with more assertion. A heavier weight on her skull. "Master..." she says again. Though her voice isn't nearly as strong as it should be to convey to the communicator. "He's become a..." Alistair's entire body tensed as the wookie's ham of a hand came to his shoulder. The growl that the creatures gives off as communication is completely lost on the twi'leks ears as anything beyond a growl. His eyes glare with an intensity at the wookie as he slowly relaxed and kept his mouth shut. Thoughts raked through his mind as he tried to figure things out. It had all started as a little 'quest,' if you will, to rescue Yejide from a 'bad, bad' man. Now he sat restrained next to a more than an exhausted Ai'kani. He had no idea of what happened to Gydeon after 501-Zed gave him a boot to the gut. The twi'lek had an amazing way of screwing things up. Seemingly satisfied that he has made his point, the Wookiee straightens and takes a step back, his hands once more hanging limply at his side. His eye slid towards Ai'kani, lingering on her face before moving to some blank spot between the two prisoners. Luke's sigh is indicated by the rise and fall of his shoulders. "I won't be drawn into your verbal duels." His voice is final, authoritative, as if he had just now made this decision and stands firm behind it. "Not all are worthy of mercy." He draws back his hood and peers into the lens so strongly with his eye and his mind that ripples of the Force rock the ship like a lotus blossom floating atop the surface of a pond disturbed by a pebble. "What is it you wish to exchange?" Tyy'sun is fully taken aback by the rocking of the ship, not to mention the pure intensity of Luke Skywalker's gaze displayed across the holographic image. For a moment, he is uncertain if something is going on outside to cause such a turbulance. He steps forward and mutes the com transmission so that Luke cannot hear what he says, and motions to Kyyiriiwur to go to the cockpit and investigate. Covering his mouth, "Set the jump computer to the calculate for Etti Iv, and await my signal." If there were authorities incoming on The Envy, Tyy'sun would not be thrilled to be caught with his pants down. He turns back to the holomachine and unmutes the panel. The realization that the turbulance of the ship seems to accentuate the words of the Jedi Master is not lost on Tyy'sun, and his inward nervousness begins to raise. Surely these 'Jedi' are not so powerful as to brush their will against his ship from so such great distance. He meet's Luke's image plainly - bravely, his other hand reaching into his satchel to pull out a comlink which will allow him to communicate with the cockpit. "Master Skywalker, do pardon my speech - It is not my intention to waste your time.." he tilts his head slightly, "But tell me.. Is everyone worthy to recieve a sensitivity to the Force? If not your Mercy? I ask for holocrons, vids and self training materials from the Basilica archives - that I might further my own intellectual pursuits." he pauses, "And one of those impressive laser swords as well.. in exchange for the Padawan, of course.." Ai'kani grunts. So, it is true. He's going to try to teach himself what he cannot force out of her. It's not until he's walking away that Ai'kani notices the Wook. With a grunt, she lifts her head more fully and finally speaks up. "You still act so foolish," she replies to Tyy'sun. "To think you gain any knowledge merely by force and no persuit...." Her eyes look to the blue image though she isn't sure if the man can see her. But it doesn't matter. She could feel him rattling the ship. Finally... that connection is was searching for. 'Luke... he's been awakened...' though she speaks nothing outwardly. Surely the rest is self explanatory. The only thing that worried Alistair was the fact that the ship was shaking. Shifting uncomfortably against his bonds, his eyes turned to Ai'kani questioningly. Frankly, he could think of nothing more to say or to do. "Ai'kani, what's going on?" The Wookie sinks to one knee as the ships begins to rock, his head moving left and right, first to see what is going on, and then to see that the prisoners have not moved. "Wha..?" He muttergrowls as he rises. He begins to move towards the cockpit, disappearing from view. Once inside he sinks into the copilot's seat and begins to calculate the jump. (speaking in Shyriiwook) The nature of Tyy'sun's request makes abrupt sense, as Luke passively observes the crimson Twilek's reaction to his powerful yet casual use of the Force to get his attention. The Jedi Master becomes thoughtful, considering all that that has just been revealed. "I will leave the question of worthiness for you to answer on your own," he replies. "For you are embarking on a journey of discovery." As Ai'kani's interjection is picked up on the aural sensors, Luke frowns deeply, a distant and gentle admonishment conveyed to the padawan's battered psyche. "He must choose his own path," he says as if addressing his student directly. "If he wishes to learn, I will not keep knowledge from him." A wry smile curves Luke's lips. "A lightsaber? I will see what can be done. Where shall we meet for this exchange?" The crimson Twi'lek nods, something inside of him washing away for a moment. he just watches the image for a long moment.. perhaps he is shocked at the response. "Trandosha." he finally states, "the materials should be delivered to the specified location, which I will transmit to you after our discussion is concluded. Once I have inspected them to my satisfaction, I shall then transmit the location of a a healthy Ai'kani, who will await your arrival with baited breath, I am certain." He takes a steady breath and holds his business robed posture before the holomachine, "Your cooperation in these matters has given me faith in the smoothness of the coming transaction, Master Skywalker." he still holds the comlink. "I dont feel its terrible nessesary, but I will say anyways, that the materials are to be left unguarded and unspoiled. You or your underlings should be well off world by the time I or mine arrive to recieve the bundle." 'But...' The woman's eyes narrow slightly. She's seen what happens when she betrayed Luke's decisions. However, another thought crosses her mind and though she remains silent; the connection she has with Luke remains open. However, judging by the conversation, she may not have much longer with him. 'Alistair is here, too.... and Yejide. He has her somewhere.' The padawan doesn't trust this transaction and just distrust reverberates through the ship. Being met with silence does not reassure Alistair at all as his lekku writhe and shake uncertainly. How in the world did the twi'lek get himself into this situation? Was his life on Tatooine all that bad? Sure it got boring every now and then, but at least the next day would be certain. He had enough skills to keep himself alive surviving even in the darkest corners of Tatooine. Out here he was of little use, and the past two weeks had proven to him that he was quite the coward. Sometimes, it would seem, Lady Luck had something for kicking Alistair in the face. Alone. Removed from all the things going on in the main cabin, the Wookiee pulls his wood block and knife back out and begins carving once more. "Of course," Luke says, and his hand extends, seemingly toward the camera, to trigger the controls on the comm console. "I'm ready to receive the transmission at your convenience." As he resumes his previous position, the Jedi's brows furl beneath a lock of disheveled hair. "Yejide and Alistair... yes, you will return them, as well." He smiles faintly and bows at the waist. "I believe you will be pleased with this transaction." Tyy'sun's head dips, as does his upperbody in a half bow - customary of Corporate Sector business behavior, "Yes, The others will be at Ai'kani's side.. I do enjoy the thought of my duaghter attending one of the most prestigious academy in all of the Galaxy, Master Skywalker. The transmission is enroute to you now.. Good day." he steps towards the holomachine and ends the transmission. Tentatively, the Twi'lek lets out a sigh - either of relieve or suspision. He raises the comlink to his face, "take us to hyperspace right away." he says simply, and walks with a thoughtful gait to a crash chair on the edge of the spacious cabin of Trader's Envy. Sensing the conversation nearing a close, Ai'kani closes her eyes tightly. 'He lies... she is not his daughter... it /has/ to be a lie.... and I will prove it.' Though she means for that thought only to be to herself, it may end up getting send to Luke, as well. Opening her eyes, she looks up at Tyy'sun as the connection is cut off. "So, is that it? Is that how you think you will learn to understand the Force? By sacraficing lives and believing you can take everything you want?" She laughs gently and shakes her head. "And yet you cowar in so much fear, you bind two people who pose no threat? Are you so terrified?" Her eyes glance to Alistair before her head turns towards him. What /is/ he doing here? Alistair did not take notice that Ai'kani had turned her head towards him. His thoughts were still swimming about his decisions. Certainly he made a couple bad ones that ended up bringing him here, but he finally decided that there was no point to be thinking about how things would be if he had simply stayed on Tatooine or taken the job with his friend Gydeon. Chances are he would've found a vibro knife in his back if he had stayed. That's luck for you. Letting out a weary sigh, Alistair's head hung allowing his chin to touch his chest. Weary arms hang near lifelessly as he considers falling asleep. What a strange thing to consider.